gerunds and infinitives

1. GERUNDS AND
INFINITIVES
NEFi Unit 5C

2. USE THE GERUND (VERB + -ing)
⦿After prepositions and phrasal verbs
I’m very good at remembering names
She’s given up smoking
⦿As the subject of a sentence
Eating out is quite cheap here
⦿After some verbs (page 236)
I don’t mind getting up early

3. COMMON VERBS AND EXPRESSIONS
WITH GERUND
Suggest LIKE imagine HATE
LOVE miss MIND
involve ENJOY regret
SPEND DENY risk
PRACTISE STOP
SUGGEST miss CAN’T
STAND it’s not worth
avoid practise CAN’T
HELP look forward to
be/get used to
GO ON GIVE UP …

4. USE THE INFINITIVE (TO + VERB)
⦿After adjectives
My flat is easy to find
⦿To express a reason or purpose
He’s saving money (in order) to buy a car
⦿After some verbs (page 236)
Try not to make a noise

5. COMMON VERBS WITH TO + VERB
(can’t) AFFORD AGREE
DECIDE Threaten
EXPECT FORGET
HELP HOPE LEARN
NEED OFFER PLAN
Tend
PRETEND PROMISE
REFUSE REMEMBER
SEEM TRY
WANT WOULD LIKE

6. INFINITIVE OF PURPOSE
⦿Don’t use ‘for’ when you want to say the
reason or purpose why you do/did
something:
I’m saving money for to buy a car

7. USE THE BARE INFINITIVE (NO ‘TO’)
⦿ After most modals and auxiliary verbs
I can’t drive. We must hurry up!
(but , You ought to see a doctor!
⦿ After make and let
My parents don’t let me go out late
She always makes me laugh
⦿ After had better and would rather
I’d rather go home now. It’s late.
You’d better stop before you tear me all apart.
Sam Brown – Stop
Lyrics

8. NEGATIVES
⦿Gerunds and infinitives form the negative
with ‘not’ 🡪 not to be, not being
Try not to be late, please
I love not having to get up early on Sundays

9. DIFFERENT MEANING
⦿Some verbs can take both the gerund and the
infinitive with the same meaning:
Begin start continue …
⦿Some other verbs can take both the gerund
and the infinitive, but the meaning is
different:
Try
Remember
Forget
Stop

10. OTHER USES OF GERUNDS AND
INFINITIVES
⦿We use the gerund after certain expressions
with it or there – it’s no use, there’s no
point, it’s not worth
It’s no use worrying. There’s nothing you can
do
Is there any point (in) asking him? He never
has anything useful to say.
It’s no good talking to my dad because he
doesn’t listen to me.

11. OTHER USES OF GERUNDS AND
INFINITIVES
⦿We use the infinitive with to:
◼ After nouns formed from verbs which take the
infinitive: agree (agreement), plan (plan), hope
(hope) …
Our plan is to leave on Sunday.
We have an agreement to share the costs.
◼ After expressions with quantifiers (enough, too
much, a lot, plenty of …)
There wasn’t enough snow for us to ski
There’s too much to see; you can’t visit Paris in
just one day

12. OTHER USES OF GERUNDS AND
INFINITIVES
⦿We use the infinitive with to:
◼ After something, anywhere.
Is there anything to eat?
There’s nowhere to go at night
◼ After question words, except why
I don’t know where to go or what to do.
◼ After superlatives and first, second, last, etc
Who was the first person to walk on the moon